Chance Encounters
by Maji
Summary: Sometimes... It's just one of those days... Being stuck on an elevator isn't that much fun anyway. Get stuck on it with an enemy and it's even worse. A fun little fic that shouldn't be taken seriously.


Disclaimer: I don't own Cars. Pixar does. Kinda wish I did. I do however own Jeff McQueen and Henry McQueen. They don't really make an appearance but they do briefly pop up. The NASCAR people own themselves of course. Have fun reading!

Note: This is a one shot fic set a short while after the movie. There is some rather crude humor in there referring to the Viagra car... I'm sorry dude! He's a great racer but I'll bet he has to have a good sense of humor. If that crude humor bugs you please don't read it. Also like to give credit to an idea borrowed from the great Jeff Foxworthy. Fans of his will probably spot it. Call it an Easter Egg! Thanks y'all and enjoy! Rock on!

Also note that I came up with this while stuck in the elevator at school for the third time this week... For all I pay them in tuition each quarter you would think they would be able to keep an elevator running and don't even get me started on the computers... Never mind. Anywho it's a one shot so enjoy!

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Late... He was late. Horribly late. Lightning hurried through the crowd of vehicles, most of them press... The press was one of the main reasons he was late. They where like locusts... Alright maybe that was being a little harsh, but they where pests.

"Excuse me please." He offered quietly as he pushed his way through a couple of pick up trucks. They stepped aside, for him the non press actually a friendly bunch when it came to the racing world. It was as if as soon as a reporter badge was tagged onto a vehicle that all good manners flew right out the window.

He just barely made it to an elevator, the lift actually a small room designed to carry three or four vehicles at a time to the upper floors of the convention center. Doc kept insisting that this was an honor, though he noticed that everyone else had chosen to watch the convention from the safety of Radiator Springs with the help of CNN.

Doc had come earlier... Which probably made him the smarter vehicle. Rookies normally where not even invited to these things... To many rookies tended to fade in and out. Though his show of sportsmanship at the Piston Cup towards a favorite among racing viewers had spurred the Piston Cup officials to ask the stock car to come to the normally very closed convention. He also had a feeling it had to do with who his crew chief was. Something else that didn't really bother him. As Harv tended to tell him so frequently, bring on the publicity.

The elevator doors where just sliding closed when someone attempting to fight their way through the press yelled to hold it. Lightning silently settled a tire against the door, holding the elevator as a familiar form fought his way through the crowd. Lightning gave an aggravated sigh, for a moment considering letting the lift go... But no. He supposed that would have been rude and just given him more ammunition.

Chick Hicks fought his way through the press and into the elevator before he so much as looked at Lightning.

"Well, well... Small world." Chick commented, drawing a nod from Lightning.

"Surprised to see you here rookie. Didn't think they let y'all into this thing."

"They made an exception." Lightning offered with a smirk, that pulling a brief growl from Chick as the elevator started it's upward climb.

"Must have been a pity invitation." Chick mused.

"Think it had more to do with an actual show of talent. Something you might have missed. Though I'll admit it does take talent to cheat that much in a single race." Lightning shot back.

The two fell silent, neither having all that much to say to the other. After his win, Chick Hicks wasn't exactly all that popular with the fans. His rather dirty victory had been met with quite a bit of talk. Lightning, in turn didn't have all that much to say to the other race car. Their rivalry had hit a peak since last season and it didn't look as if it was going to slack off any time soon.

Lightning closed his eyes for a moment, a slight sigh given in the momentary quiet. An uncomfortable one but if he ignored Chick all together he could at least settle into a brief amount of peace. It was only a few minute before the elevator made a deep moan sound, both cars coming to attention as they lift shuttered and abruptly stopped.

"What happened?" Chick questioned quietly, tensing a bit at the opressing silence around them.

"We stopped." Lightning supplied, a slight death gaze gained from Chick.

"I know that. Why did we stop?"

"I don't know, ask the elevator." Lightning suggested, hitting the button for their floor a few times with his tire. When the elevator didn't move he hit the call button. A light began to flicker but otherwise it remained silent.

"Must be stuck between floors." Lightning mused, slight shrug given. "They'll get it moving again soon."

"How soon?" Chick asked, seeming to have tensed a bit more than he had a moment ago. "Try the call button again..."

"I did Chick. Calm down. What's your problem anyway?" Lightning questioned, bemused gaze settling on Chick.

Chick only growled, settling back a bit on his shocks. The tough old race car didn't seem so tough at the moment. He looked like he was close to a building panic.

"You afraid of elevators?" Lightning asked, sounding a bit surprised to that. Chick feared nothing. He was well known for that, the race car known to go charging into the worst of situations on the track.

Chick didn't say anything, but his tense expression said it all.

"Hey, don't worry. The elevator stopped. It's not like we're going to plumate to the bottom of the shaft- Sorry!" He offered quickly, at Chick's somewhat panicked expression. "Don't listen to me, we'll be fine."

"Hello there." The crackle of the intercom system, caused both vehicles to jump. The emergency light had stopped blinking, someone answering the call. "You folks need help?"

"Yeah, we're stuck in an elevator." Lightning offered, slight sigh of relief given. "There's two of us, ya mind getting us out of here?"

"Yeah, we've got the problem. It's gonna take a little while though, so you folks settle in and we'll have ya out of there as soon as we can." The voice explained, slight chuckle gained from Lightning.

"Thanks buddy. Ya mind letting the racing officials know that it's Lightning McQueen and Chick Hicks in here? Their expecting us upstairs."

"Sure thing. Have ya out in a few." With that the voice was gone leaving behind, once again silence.

"See? We'll be out soon." Lightning commented, settling back on his shocks. He folded all four tires beneath himself so that his frame settled onto the hardwood floor of the elevator.

Chick quietly looked down at him for a moment before a ragged sigh left the stock car and he likewise settled down. He wasn't nearly so ornery and mean when he was afraid it seemed.

"Closed in spaces." Chick offered, drawing a puzzled gaze from Lightning.

"It's not so much elevators as closed in spaces. Of course the plummeting to the bottom of the elevator shaft doesn't exactly help..."

"Sorry." Lightning muttered, glancing around the elevator for a moment. "How do you ride in your trailer if you're afraid of closed in spaces?"

"Open air vents." Chick explained, a heavy sigh given. The racer was surprisingly talkative when nervous. Lightning had known people like that before. Sheriff was the same way. Sheriff was the most level headed car he had ever known, but when he was nervous about something he just started talking and wouldn't shut up.

"So, think about something else." Lightning suggested, frown crossing his grill.

"Like what? It's not like there's anything in here to capture the mind."

"I don't know... Like maybe... Something not here. Tractors." Lightning suddenly offered, willing to let Chick talk as much as he wanted if it kept him calm. The last thing he needed was a panicking race car in an elevator.

"Tractors?" Chick offered a puzzled gaze, the complete randomness of that statement enough to pull him out of his panic.

"Yeah, tractors. I like them. Their kinda goofy ya know?"

Chick briefly smiled and nodded. "Yeah... Use to go tractor tipping when I was a kid."

Now that surprised him. Chick? Tractor tipping? "Really? That's Mater's favorite pass time... He's drug me along a couple times." Lightning laughed, that gaining a somewhat amused look from Chick.

"You tractor tip? Now that's not something I would have thought... My grandfather had a bunch of the suckers. Them and one big combine named Boggs. Mean son of a big rig to."

Lightning laughed, a smile crossing his grill. "Our Combine is Frank. Just as mean I think."

"Ya manage to out run him?" Chick questioned, drawing a nod from Lightning.

"So far."

Chick nodded, a brief smile crossing his grill. "Old Boggs caught my brother once. Caught him across the fender before we ducked out of the fence. My father tanned both our hides when he found out. Only being I know that was probably meaner than Boggs." Chick mused, slight shrug given.

"Where are you from anyway?" Lightning asked, setting down a bit where he rest, his full attention turning to Chick. He seemed almost social now... Almost easy to talk to. Another side of Chicks apparently. One that was kinda scaring the hell out of him. Nice Chicks? He wasn't sure how to handle it.

"Alabama."

"Not far from where my family is." Lightning mused, slight smirk crossing his grill. "Georgia."

Now it was Chick's turn to offer a look of surprise. "Don't sound like it kid."

"Well the southern accent isn't the most intelligent sounding accent so I've heard." Lightning offered, for a moment letting the heavy twang he tried so hard to suppress show through.

This time Chick really did laugh, a slight smirk given. "Kid, a little tip about racing. There is no room in the Piston Cup for that kind of behavior. Every fan lives for that interview they have no idea what the racer just said. That even those with a heavy southern draw are goin' 'where there any words in there?'"

Lightning chuckled, having never thought of it that way. He supposed he was right. He knew of very few racers that didn't have that draw.

"Hell my Dad use to make up words to feed to the press." Chick went on, a slight chuckle given. "No body every said 'ight" Before dad fed it to the press. He was right proud of that one."

"Your Dad was a racer?" Lightning questioned, drawing a nod from Chick.

"Oh yes. So was grandpa, and my uncle... Come from a long line of racers."

"That why you started racing?"

"Part of it. Also wanted to get out of the town I was raised in. Traveling kinda comes with the racing territory. What about you? What got you started?"

Lightning thought on that one, a slight shrug given. "My grandpa mostly. He was a racer. So was my Dad but he never really knew him."

Chick nodded thoughtfully, slight frown crossing his grill. "Thought your name sounded familiar. Jeff McQueen? And... Henry McQueen am I right?"

Lightning nodded, drawing a chuckle from Chick. "I knew them... Good guys. Good racers to, though Jeff never quite could get away with a win at the piston cup. Henry had a couple under his tires though."

"Eh, Dad disappeared before I was born. Don't think even Grandpa Henry knew where he was."

Chick nodded a bit, slight frown crossing his grill. That he could understand. His father had been an ass, but at least he had been around. Seemed the two racers had something in common other than tractor tipping and the south.

"Hey Chick can I ask ya something?" Lightning questioned after a moment, drawing a nod from Chick.

"Why are you so intent on winning. It's not everything you know."

"You didn't seem to think so last season." Chick mused, drawing a shrug from Lightning. "I changed my mind. And a Grumpy old car pointed something out to me. It's just an empty cup. But ya know, it's fun to get out there and race... If you would stop cheating and start racing ya just might enjoy it."

Chick gave a snort and shook his grill. "I don't cheat kid. I rub fenders. That's what we call racing. Ya gotta be tough in this world. It's not gonna give you a second chance."

"I know that... But winning still isn't everything." Lightning muttered, a heavy sigh given.

"I know that." Chick offered, shrugging on his shocks. "I suppose... At first I wanted to prove that I was worth something. Then it just became a habit. After a while, it was the only way I knew how to race. So there ya go."

Lightning nodded slowly, seeming to consider that for a moment. It made sense. He supposed Chick didn't have what he had. When he was growing up he had his grandfather. Henry had been careful to teach his grandson how to race. Taught him the techniques and what to avoid. He had also engraved into his head that if you couldn't win a race off of pure talent you didn't need to race. Chick he supposed didn't have that. He had a parent that had ridden him hard to be the best.

"So... Is that why you knocked the King off the track?" He questioned after a time, gaining a sigh from Chick.

"Honestly? I didn't mean to hit him that hard. I meant to bump him. Like I did to you. Force him to slow down so I could pass. I just hit him at the right angle I guess..." He mused, a slight shrug given. "Not that anyone really cares about that I suppose. It happens in thousands of other races. No one would have given it a second thought if it wasn't the King. No one would have thought twice on it if it hadn't been his last race. It's a racing move that just went wrong at the wrong time."

"I guess that makes sense..."

Chick shrugged, settling back on his shocks a bit. "Wouldn't expect ya to understand. You'll learn in time. I'm surprised that crew chief of yours hasn't taught ya that. He was as rough as the rest of them back in the day... My Dad raced with him. Rubbed paint with him many a day... The era of the red dirt racers... Now that was racing."

"Really?" Lightning questioned, drawing a brief nod from Chick. "Hell yeah. Back then it wasn't all this glitz and glamor. If ya wanted fame ya had to claw your way through the ranks. If ya disappeared for a while there was no big come back. You where forgotten."

"Yeah, Doc told me about that..."

"Probably didn't tell ya everything. Racing back then was a nasty business. Most of the racers where even nastier. Racers now have it easy compared to back then. There where no perks to racing. Ya did it for the thrill of the win."

Lightning nodded slowly. He had never thought of it that way. Something he made a mental note to ask Doc about later. He had heard a few racers talk about the old days, but it had never been put in that perspective for him before.

"Actually, I'd be surprised if you've never raced on a dirt track... There's still a bunch of them out in Georgia." Chick mused, drawing a chuckle from Lightning.

"Not as many as you might think... The first time I raced it was on asphalt. Doc taught me how to race on dirt. I only got the break I did with Rust-eze because they knew of my grandfather."

"Eh, that first sponsor is always the hardest. Heard they offered ya Dinoco though."

"Yeah, but I turned them down. Winning isn't everything you know. I like my sponsor. They gave me my first break."

Chick chuckled a bit and shook his grill. "Kid, you're a rare one. Most would have left that one as soon as they could."

"Martin didn't." Lightning pointed out, drawing a snort of laughter from Chick.

"Yeah, but you have to have a damn good sense of humor to drive for Viagra..."

"Don't say it." Lightning offered, a slight snicker given.

"I'm just saying that he always drives a really hard race, but he's a little stiff in the turns." Chick offered with a smirk.

"You're an ass ya know that?" Lightning offered with a smirk, drawing a chuckle from Chick.

"I get it from my daddy. He was an ass to so it's honest."

Lightning only snickered, the two for a moment settling into a companionable silence. The elevator shuttered, briefly causing Chick to tense again, the look of panic slowly returning.

Lightning frowned a settled a tire against the older racer. "Why don't you like closed in spaces anyway?" He questioned, drawing a sigh from Chick.

The racer was nervous again. He was once more talkative, saying things he probably wouldn't have normally admitted. "We had an old shed in the back of the barn... Small little building maybe half the size of this. When I was a kid my dad used it as sort of a punishment. We screwed up, me and my brother wound up locked in there for a few hours. Always scared the hell out of me. Never really forgot it."

Lightning nodded slowly, a frown crossing his grill. This was a side to the old racer that he had never seen before. He seemed almost... Not all that different from himself. The racer had always seemed larger than life and now he was right there with all the other mortals. He had, had it rough and now he survived from day to day. Trying to be better than everyone else. It was a rough way to live... But he supposed it wasn't really Chick's fault.

Lightning kept a light tire against the old racer's side, the green stock car shaking a bit where he sat, but otherwise the two fell to silence. It was a little over half an hour before the elevator shuttered again. It slowly began climbing upward, a smile crossing the grills of both vehicles as they got to their tires. That sound was music to their ears.

The accent was slow, the elevator still not exactly working. However it was moving enough so that someone could get them out of there. The doors slid open a floor below their floor, revealing several workers who where attempting to fix the lift.

"Sorry about that folks. You're gonna have to take another elevator or the ramp from here."

"Think I'll walk." Chick offered, a light nod of thanks offered.

"Me to." Lightning commented, a smile crossing his grill. "Thanks guys."

They smiled and nodded, getting back to their task of keeping the elevator out of service as Lightning and Chick hit the ramp. They moved in silence up the ramp and to their floor, the convention hall already in full swing by the time they got up there.

"Nice talkin' to ya kid." Chick offered with a smile, that cocky attitude back. That was probably the closest Lightning would get to a 'thank you for keeping me from panicking.'

"You to Chick. Look forward to racing you again this season."

"You'll be seeing a lot of my back fender." Chick commented with a smirk.

"Only because I'll be passing you for the second time." Lightning countered.

Chick only laughed and silently left the young stock car, heading to where he was suppose to meet his sponsors.

"There you are." Doc's voice caused Lightning to turn around, a slight chuckle given. "Hey Doc."

"Where have you been?" Doc questioned. "I've been trying to keep your sponsors from going nutty, and the press is everywhere."

"Got stuck in an elevator for half an hour so don't start." Lightning commented, glancing around the room. "With Chick Hicks I might add."

"Ouch..." Doc mused, glancing across the room to where Chick was talking in low tones to his sponsor. The president of Hostile Take Over Banks... The old Buick looked hostile alright... If there was ever such a thing as a stereotype banker he was it.

"Actually not so bad. Sometimes the best way to go forward in life is to know your enemy which sometimes turns out not to be such an enemy at all." Lightning mused, gaining a puzzled look from Doc.

"You feelin' alright kid?"

"Yep. Just learned a few things I suppose." He commented, slight smile given. He certainly wouldn't look at his rival the same way again. He seemed mortal now... He wasn't a big rival. He was another racer that wanted the same thing Lightning did. They where of the same breed. They had the same goals... They simply went about getting them differently. Chick at the end of the day was just... A car.

Lightning chuckled and offered a very puzzled Doc, a smile.

"So Doc, tell me about red dirt racing..."

Fin


End file.
